Combined grapple and television guide



Dec. 4, 1962 G. CAMAC 3,066,969

COMBINED GRAPPLE AND TELEVISION GUIDE Filed Jan. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR GEORGE QAMAC Y Q D A- Dec. 4, 1962 e. CAMAC COMBINED GRAPPLE AND TELEVISION GUIDE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 6, 1958 INVENTOR GEORGE CAMAC ATTORNEYS 3,066,969 CDMBINED GRAPPLE AND TELEVESION GUHDE George Camac, Mohherley, England, assignor to A.E.l.-

John Thompson Nuclear Energy Company Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Jan. 6, 1958, Ser. No. 707,301 Claims priority, application Great Britain .Ian. 9, 195

7 Claims. (Cl. 29466) This invention relates to television guided grapple apparatus for remote locations and has an important application in apparatus for removingbroken particles of fuel elements from the fuel channels of nuclear reactors.

In picking up broken elements from fuel channels of nuclear reactors it is necessary to have mechanical handling apparatus such as tongs, which are remotely controlled, together with means for remote viewing of the handling operation by means of a suitably designed television camera. However, the television camera must clearly be located above the handling apparatus and hence it is necessary for the drive to the handling apparatus to pass around the camera.

The present invention comprises the combination of a television camera of the reactor inspection type carried on the end of a flexible supporting and supply cable together with mechanical handling apparatus capable of gripping a broken fragment of fuel and mounted on the underside of the camera, a first driving spindle for actuating said apparatus extending longitudinally along the outside of the camera and a second driving spindle for positioning the handling apparatus also extending longitudinally along the outside of the camera and electrical driving apparatus for operating each of said spindles and located above the camera.

The spindles may be suitably positioned along the sides of the cathode ray tube for instance, side by side, or concentrically. In cases in which the fuel channels have longitudinal guide grooves on opposite sides the driving spindles may extend along the sides of the camera on diametrically opposite sides.

It will be appreciated that with such an arrangement when the assembly is lowered into a fuel channel one of the driving spindles will be located in one of the guide grooves of the fuel channel and the other driving spindle located in the opposite guide groove.

The term reactor inspection television camera implies a camera of the kind which is located in a cylindrical housing and supported by a supply cable at the upper end whilst at the other end there can be an adjustable mirror for selecting the area to be viewed. Such a camera is described in the Journal of the British Nuclear Energy Conference in a paper entitled Uranium Fuel Handling, and presented November 22 and 23, 1956. I

The handling apparatus may comprise tongs or a grab which may be opened and closed to grip a fragment of fuel.

The assembly may be lowered into a fuel channel from the winding drum on which'the multi core supply cable is wound and when not in use it may held inside a shielded coffin.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

.FIG. 1 is a general vertical view of the apparatus,

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view on the line 11-11 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the handling apparatus,

FIG. 4 shows a detachable head used in the arrangement of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is an underside view of a detachable head.

FIG. 6 shows somewhat diagrammatically a modified arrangement of the drive, and

be wound up and inc FIGS. 7 and 8,.which correspond to FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively show a modified form of easing.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus shown comprises a cylindrical casing 1 and longitudinal ribs 2 which are adapted to fit in vertical guide grooves in the fuel channel. Within the casing is the television camera, indicated generally by the reference numeral 3 and at the lower end is the handling apparatus, indicated generally by the reference numeral 4. The whole assembly is suspended on the end of a stainless steel flexible hose 5 encasing a multi-core supply cable 5A which enters the top of the casing. Coolant gas can also pass through the interior of the hose to the camera and other apparatus, as indicated by the arrows. Within an extension 6 at the upper end of the casing 1 are located drive motors 7. These, acting through suitable spur gearing, drive respective spindles 8 and 9 which extend within the ribs 2 past the camera to the lower end of the assembly. The motors 7 are formed with a central hollow spindle through which the leads of the supply cable 5 pass to the television camera.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 which show the handling apparatus at the lower end of the assembly, there is shown attached to the underside of the camera casing a circular support member 10 carrying an annular member 11 having an inwardly projecting rim 12 which slides in a channel in the support member 10. A pinion drive 13 engages teeth 14 around the periphery of the annular member 11 for the purpose of rotating it. The annular member 11 carries a detachable handling head which consists of a plate 15 having a pair of parallel flanges 16 which slide in corresponding grooves in the ring member 11. The plate 15 is formed on the underside with a pair of lugs 17 and carries. a pair of tongs 18 which are pivoted at 19 so that they can expand and contract in a horizontal plane. The control ofthese tongs is effected through a spindle 20 which drives a left and right hand nut 21 acting on the expanding and contracting rods 22 which are pivoted to the two tongs 18. The spindle 20 is driven through bevel gearing from an annular bevel wheel 23 carried ona ring 24 which is rotatable about the plate 15 through a pinion 25 which in turn is driven through the vertical spindle 9. It will be appreciated that there will normally be a number of plates lSeach carrying a pair of tongs 18 which are of a different size and anappropriate set will-be selected in accordance with the job which is to be performed. The television camera is so directed that objects gripped between the tongs may be observed.

In some cases it may be necessary to ensure that when the support member 10 is rotated, the tongs are not actuated by virtue of interaction between the ring 24 and pinion 25. This actuation of the tongs may be avoided by' a compensating rotation of shaft 9 when shaft 8 is rotated or by disengaging the solenoid operated clutch26 so as to disconnect the drive.

FIG. 6 shows a modified arrangement in which both shaft 8 and shaft 9-are driven from a single motor 27. In such a case the shaft 9 is driven through a clutch 28 operated by a solenoid 29. -When the tongs are to be operated, clutch 28 is disengaged, but when the head is to be rotated, clutch 28 is engaged. This will rotate shaft 9 and at the same time apply a compensating rotation to shaft 8.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a modification of the arrangement of FIG. 1 which can be used in circular fuel channels without guide grooves. In this arrangement the casing 1 is circular and the driving shafts 8 and 9 are adjacent. In cases in which it is desired to use the apparatus in fuel channels having guide grooves wing pieces of channel sections 30 and 31 may be attached as shown; these are attached in the actual arrangement shown by 3 bolts 32 extending through plates 33 attached to the side members of the channel sections.

At the lower ends of the channel members lamps 34 are provided. The supply leads in this case pass through a multi pin plug and socket connection at 35 and the cable 5 to the television camera passes outside of the motors and not through hollow spindles, as in the arrangement of FIG. 1.

What I claim is:

1. Television inspection equipment comprising a television camera arranged for downward viewing, a casing therefor, means including a flexible cable for supporting said casing and providing electrical connections thereto, mechanical apparatus for gripping broken fragments mounted on the underside of said casing, said apparatus comprising an annular carrier rotatably mounted in a position underneath the camera face, horizontally extending pivotal tongs supported by said carrier and extending inwardly, means for rotating said carrier including a first driving spindle extending along the outside of said casing, and means for operating said tongs including a second driving spindle also extending along the outside of said carrier.

2. Television inspection equipment comprising a television camera arranged for downward viewing, a casing therefor, means including a flexible cable for supporting said casing and providing electrical connections thereto, mechanical handling apparatus for gripping broken fragments mounted on the underside of said casing, said apparatus comprising an annular carrier rotatably mounted about the axis of said casing, a laterally detachable head mounted on said carrier, horizontally extending tongs pivotally mounted on said head, means for rotating said carrier including a first driving spindle extending along the outside of said casing, and means for operating said tongs including a second driving spindle also extending along the outside of said casing.

3. Television inspection equipment comprising a television camera arranged for downward viewing, a casing therefor, means including a flexible cable for supporting said casing and providing electrical connections thereto, mechanical apparatus for gripping broken fragments mounted on the underside of said casing, said apparatus comprising an annular carrier rotatably mounted in said casing in a position underneath the camera face, horizontally extending pivotal tongs supported by said carrier and extending inwardly, means for rotating said carrier including a first driving spindle extending along the outside of said casing, means for operating said tongs including a second driving spindle extending also along the outside of said casing, and clutch means for de-energising said second driving spindle to prevent operation of said tongs when rotating said carrier.

4. Television guided grapple equipment for a nuclear reactor comprising a television camera, a cylindrical casing housing said camera, flexible suspending and electrical supply means for said camera and said casing, mechanical handling apparatus for gripping a broken fragment of fuel attached to said casing adjacent the underside of the camera, said casing having hollow ribs extending longitudinally on substantially diametrically opposite sides thereof and detachable from said cylindrical casing, means 7 including a first driving spindle for actuating said handling apparatus extending longitudinally within one of said hollow ribs, means including a second driving spindle for positioning the handling apparatus extending longitudinal- A 7 if 1y within the second hollow rib, and electrical driving means supported Within said casing for operating each of said driving spindles.

5. Television guided grapple equipment for a nuclear reactor comprising a television camera, a cylindrical casing housing said camera, flexible suspending and electrical supply means for said casing and said camera, mechanical handling apparatus for gripping a broken fragment of fuel attached to said casing adjacent the underside of the camera, said handling apparatus including a circular support rotatable about a vertical axis and a 7 handling head detachably mounted on said support, said handling head having a pair of tongs, means including a first driving spindle for controlling the angular position of said support, said spindle extending longitudinally along the outside of the camera, means including a second driving spindle for operating said tongs, said second spindle extending longitudinally along the outside of the camera, and electrical driving means for operating each of said spindles.

6. Television guided grapple equipment for a nuclear reactor comprising a television camera, a cylindrical casing housing said camera, flexible suspending and electrical supply means for said casing and said camera, mechanical handling apparatus for gripping a broken fragment of fuel attached to said casing adjacent the underside of the camera, said handling apparatus including a circular support rotatable about a vertical axis and a handling head detachably mounted on said support, said handling head having a pair of tongs, means including a first driving spindle for controlling the positioning of said support, said spindle extending longitudinally along the outside of the camera, means including a second driving spindle for operating said tongs, said second spindle extending longi- V tudinally along the outside of the camera, electrical driving means for operating each of said spindles, and means for eflecting a compensating rotation of the handling apparatus when the carrier rotates so as to avoid actuation of the handling apparatus as a result of reaction through the drive.

7. Television guided grapple equipment for a nuclear reactor comprising a television camera, a cylindrical casing housing said camera, a flexible cable for supporting said casing and supply power to said camera, mechanical handling apparatus for gripping a broken fragment of fuel attached to said casing adjacent the underside of the camera, said handling apparatus including an annular support rotatable about a vertical axis and a handling head detachably mounted on said support, said handling head having a pair of tongs, a circular rack mounted on said support, a first driving spindle extending longtiudinally along the outside of the camera and carrying pinion means engaging the rack, a second circular and rotatable rack operatively connected with said tongs, a second driving spindle extending longitudinally along the outside of the 7 camera and carrying pinion means engaging said second circular rack and electrical driving means located above the camera for operating both said spindles. 

